In the morning, Li Guolou was looking at the files in Lu Haikong's room. The case he had on hand was a shocking scandal in the Qing Empire. The Ministry of Revenue's treasury was short of 150,000 taels. This case would be exposed because of the new
Yu Shuzhen, the right minister of the Ministry of Revenue (Shang Shu) who took office, was exposed.
Yu Shuzhen is a Han nationality. When he first joined the household department, a fat and oily department, of course he had to check the accounts first to see if there were any errors in the old accounts. He was an incorruptible official, but when he checked the treasury's bank balance, he was shocked.
A full 150,000 taels of silver disappeared. This was not to cost him his life. He was not willing to cover up for his predecessor Jiang Shutian and went directly to heaven. Emperor Tongzhi was furious, and the Empress Dowager Cixi also spoke out. No matter who was involved in this case
, I will kill you without mercy.
The shocking case was accepted by the Criminal Ministry Bao together. It has been investigated for more than a month, but there is still no clue. Up to now, we still don’t know how the money from the treasury disappeared?
Li Guolou read all the records and found that a total of thirty treasuries had access to the silver in the treasury, and none of them admitted to stealing the silver. The police officers also carefully checked the floors and walls of the treasury, and there were no loopholes that allowed people to get into the treasury.
Stealing. So how did the 150,000 taels of silver disappear?
Li Guolou closed the file, looked up at the roof, and remained silent for a long time. This case had traces of the Manchu-Chinese dispute, and Lu Haikong was deeply involved in it and could not investigate further. Because Yu Shuzhen, the right servant of the Ministry of Revenue, was a Han, and his subordinates
Then all of them were Manchus. Therefore, Lu, Hai and Kong could not execute torture to extract confessions. Even when they interrogated a small Kuzu, Manchu officials were watching. How could this investigation be continued? No officials from the Ministry of Revenue or Kuzu cooperated with the investigation. On the contrary,
Being restrained in every aspect, as a police officer of the Criminal Department, he was timid and unwilling to offend the Manchus, thus leaving the case unresolved.
The chief officer above is investigating closely, but the officials below are not cooperating. The detectives in the middle are miserable and the case cannot be handed over. Even the land, sea and air have become bitter. Those Manchu officials have grades and are all
How could he ask a high-ranking official? When he said he was not free today, he left him outside the Hubu Yamen.
Lu Haikong looked at Li Guolou without saying a word and sighed: "Little Lizi, this is dealing with the Manchus. If you don't get it right, you will be killed. Mr. Bao, although Captain Yao thinks highly of me and asked me to take this case, but
How many kilograms do I have? I don’t know yet, and I can’t afford to offend anyone. Look at the words I asked in the file. They are all the same. If I go a little off, people will look down on me. Although I am investigating the case, but
There are a lot of grandmas up there, and they don’t even have the power to interrogate suspects. Every trial has to be accompanied by the chief official of the Ministry of Revenue before they can be interrogated. This job cannot be done by humans."
Li Guolou said meaningfully: "The Manchus are the most united. Mr. Yu will have a more difficult life in the future."
Lu Haikong sighed: "Master Yu is my old superior, how can our subordinates not try our best. You see that Captain Yao has also become serious, and Master Wu has also pretended to be deaf and dumb. You should know that we have all tried our best.
"
Li Guolou asked: "Lao Lu, are there any suspects?"
Lu Haikong said angrily: "If you want me to say, you are a gang of thieves, there is no good guy, but I didn't catch anyone, so no one can be offended. Who will be afraid of you just with your mouth, don't you think? Manchus! I can't offend you."
Come on, I can only endure it!"
Li Guolou complained: "Lao Lu, then why did you ask me to come? Will the Manchus reveal Lao's background to me and let me know how a group of thieves operate?"
Lu Haikong curled his lips and replied: "There is only a big tree behind you here. The Manchu people pay attention to family background, family background, and power, so they will not offend you casually. You are taking advantage of it, don't you know?"
?Everyone gives you a bit of a thumbs-down. Captain Yao lets you carry the heavy burden because he respects you. I will help you behind the scenes and will not put on your shoes."
Li Guolou scolded angrily: "You are like a bear. When you go to the Ministry of Household Affairs, someone will scare you! What you are holding now is Shang Fang's sword. Is there anyone in the world who is afraid of you?"
Lu Haikong retorted: "Little Lizi, you are the only one who has the Shangfang Sword, and I also have the Iron Scroll of the Alchemy Book. Who are you? They won't let you go, and they won't even let you step in. How can you check it out? First.
Keep a low profile for me and don't put me in a dilemma."
Li Guolou suddenly became dejected. He couldn't use the trick of scaring people. He was still on someone else's territory. It felt so awkward to have his hands tied.
Li Guolou said: "Old Lu, let us go to the Ministry of Household Affairs first to see where we can have lunch."
Lu Haikong replied: "Is it that simple? Can my post be entered into the household office at will? Don't even think about it. The order must be signed by Mr. Bao personally, and the date, time, identity, and number of people must be accurate. Then we can
Enter the Household Department to investigate the case."
Li Guolou sighed: "Ah! It's so troublesome. We'll ask Mr. Yu to open the back door in the future."
Lu Haikong sighed: "I think so too, but wouldn't this offend Mr. Bao? Just be more troublesome. I still have my official hat on my head. Do you understand?"
Li Guolou was extremely dissatisfied and said, "Then if Mr. Bao is not here, we can't do anything?"
Lu Haikong pointed to his head and said: "If you don't do it, your head will still be there. If you do it wrong, your head will be on the ground. You still don't understand the rules of officialdom. How did you get involved?"
Li Guolou smiled freely, took out a small ingot of silver, threw it upwards, and said: "This is how I got promoted. Haven't you taken advantage of me?"
Suddenly, the silver ingot in the air fell into the palm of Lu Haikong, and he said with a smile: "It costs money to listen to the master's teachings, do you understand? Bangchui." As he spoke, Lu Haikong escaped like pirates, first he wanted to get the letter written by Master Bao.
Sign the order, otherwise you won't have to work for a day.
Li Guolou sat blankly in his chair. This time he was competing with a large group of senior Manchu officials. Was he going to destroy their jobs? Or was he colluding with some police officers who knew what was going on but pretended not to know the truth.
The amount of money stolen from the treasury cannot be just 150,000 taels of silver. The previous officials must have tried to fill the loopholes.
How did they close the loopholes? This time, right minister Yu Shuzhen, why did the new official have to expose the old records of the household department when he took office? The superiors above were infighting, which side should the subordinates stand on? All kinds of doubts made Li Guolou restless.
Investigating this case, it is still unclear whether it is a blessing or a curse. Li Guolou opened the window, and a cold wind came from outside. Li Guolou was not wearing a coat and could not help but shudder. The Qing Empire, which was plagued by diseases, also
Is there any help?
So many absurd things are called rules in the Qing Empire. Every place, every yamen, and every department has its own rules. If people from outside want to gain a foothold, they must abide by the rules and integrate into this kind of reasonable and unfair
Go in a reasonable atmosphere. Otherwise, you will be thrown into a corner without being appreciated for the rest of your life. This is how the real society is.
Just like the laws of the Qing Dynasty, what is written in the book and what is actually implemented are two different things. People are a smart species. They can make up any rules on their own and reinvent themselves. If you do errands for the emperor, you will eventually become a substitute.
His family makes money. If he wants to integrate into the life of the Qing Empire and climb up the ladder, he must abide by these rules that are out of date and not beneficial to the country. But there is a force deep in his heart that makes him resist and is unwilling to
If he inherits these bad habits, should he move up the ladder? This is the test and choice given to him.
Li Guolou does not have a happy-go-lucky personality. He already has his own opinions. Some people are secretive and like to plan and command from behind. Some people are sharp-edged and stand out. These personalities are not his choice. Just do what you like.
We should also be calm, live a free and unrestrained life, and break into new worlds.
Li Guolou stood alone outside the courtroom, looking into the dark and gloomy courtroom. The shiny plaque of "The Mirror Hangs High" gave people all over the world hope. It's time for the truth to be revealed to the world.
If you offend the Manchu people, you will be offended. At most, you will not be a paid official.
The Hubu Yamen is not far from the Xingbu Yamen. Li Guolou, Lu Haikong, Ai Hai, Ma Dequan and other twelve people walked there. They spent twenty minutes on the road and were about to arrive at the Hubu Yamen. Li Guolou said seriously
: "Lao Lu, I am handling the case now, and I am the master. I will not kowtow to those officials. You are not allowed to be a slave and want to use your official hat to suppress people. You are wishful thinking. I will not accept this."
Lu Haikong was startled and said: "Ah! Little Li, you are so brave, how dare you not kneel down. They are noble and high-ranking officials. There is a big gap between us and them."
Li Guolou curled his lips, looking down on Lu Haikong in his heart, but he still had to speak clearly, otherwise wouldn't it be looked down upon by those in the Ministry of Revenue if there was no internal unity?
Li Guolou warned: "Old Lu, you have to remember that we are the emperor's minister now. We only have to kneel when we see the imperial edict. Others are ignorant. Let's first accuse him of being disrespectful to the emperor's minister. Before his butt is wiped clean,
He needs to give us a reply, otherwise he will be taken directly to the Penal Department Yamen for questioning."
Lu Haikong asked: "There must be a reason?"
Li Guolou pointed at Lu Haikong's nose and said: "You are too cowardly to directly say that he is a thief and that he stole the money from the treasury. He should be arrested first. Anyone who dares to find fault will be arrested for this reason."
Lu Haikong asked anxiously: "What can we do? If there is no evidence then, our heads will not be saved."
Li Guolou said: "What are you afraid of? None of these high-ranking officials have a clean butt. Let me start by ransacking their homes and searching for money. They will all be scared to death. With just a few hundred taels or a few thousand taels of salary, any high-ranking official's family is worth it.
There are tens of thousands of taels, hundreds of thousands of taels, and then a big corrupt criminal will not be able to escape. Let's start a royal official affair, and everyone will break up, and no one will be able to get it. Who is not worth the money, those worms?
I immediately understood in my heart, will the money found be returned to them?"
Lu Haikong lamented: "Little Lizi, why don't you follow the rules? Tell me how to behave."
Li Guolou replied: "Lao Lu, if you don't want to wade into this muddy water, let me go. I'll pay you a thousand dollars later and go back."
Lu Haikong's face turned red from suppressing his anger. He was looked down upon by the younger generation, and these subordinates heard it. From now on, he would have to wear the label of "coward" and "coward" for the rest of his life. How could he be the eldest brother and lead the team? None of his subordinates would think highly of him.
Seeing his men eager to arrest him, Lu Haikong knew that he had been tricked by Li Guolou this time and was forced to the cliff, with only one way to go.